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Cassidy Elected to American Law Institute

2012 news archive

Newton, MA—BC Law professor R. Michael Cassidy is one of 68 newly elected members of the American Law Institute (ALI), a diverse group of highly accomplished lawyers, judges and law professors.

“Welcoming a new class of members is always a rewarding task for me,” said ALI President Roberta Cooper Ramo in a recent release. “The work we do would not be possible without members who are the intellectual leaders in their areas of law and who generously give of their time because of the importance of our projects.”

Professor Cassidy teaches and writes in the areas of Criminal Law, Evidence, and Professional Responsibility. He is considered an expert on the subject of prosecutorial ethics, and provides training nationally to public sector attorneys on their responsibilities under the Rules of Professional Conduct. He is quoted frequently by the media on subjects relating to criminal law and ethics, including appearing in the New York Times, the Boston Globe, and the Boston Herald.

During his extensive career as a government lawyer prior to joining the BC community, Professor Cassidy prosecuted hundreds of serious felony cases involving narcotics trafficking, organized and white collar crime, and public corruption. He has also briefed and argued numerous high-profile criminal matters before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. From 1993 to 1996, Professor Cassidy served as Chief of the Criminal Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office under then Attorney General Scott Harshbarger.

Among his many professional and community activities, Professor Cassidy has served as a member of the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission, as Editor-in-Chief of the Massachusetts Law Review, as a member of the Governor's Commission on Corrections Reform, as a hearing officer for the Massachusetts Board of Bar Overseers, as a member of the Criminal Justice Section Council of the Boston Bar Association, as an Advisor to the National District Attorneys' Association, and as a member of the Massachusetts Judicial Nominating Commission. Professor Cassidy was recently appointed to serve a three-year term on the Supreme Judicial Court's Standing Advisory Committee on the Rules of Professional Conduct. He is active in local government, youth sports and religious education in his hometown of Winchester, Massachusetts.

Professor Cassidy received his B.A. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Notre Dame, and his J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School. Following law school he served as law clerk to the Honorable Edward F. Hennessey, Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, and then as a litigation associate at the Boston law firm of Foley, Hoag.

Professor Cassidy served as BC Law’s Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2007-2010 and as Associate Dean for Administration and Finance from 1996 to 2002. He has twice been awarded the Emil Slizewski prize for distinguished teaching by the graduating class at commencement.

ALI is the leading independent organization in the United States producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize, and otherwise improve the law. The Institute (made up of 4000 lawyers, judges, and law professors of the highest qualifications) drafts, discusses, revises, and publishes Restatements of the Law, model statutes, and principles of law that are enormously influential in the courts and legislatures, as well as in legal scholarship and education. ALI has long been influential internationally and, in recent years, more of its work has become international in scope.

By participating in the Institute's work, its distinguished members have the opportunity to influence the development of the law in both existing and emerging areas, to work with other eminent lawyers, judges, and academics, to give back to a profession to which they are deeply dedicated, and to contribute to the public good.